Thank you CarolR :-)

I am currently in the Quaker Friendship RR with the lovely CarolR.

Carol stitched a few test pieces when deciding what thread to use, and then made them into fobs for everyone in the RR. They are all beautiful, but I was particularly drawn to the green and blue one. Thank you Carol it was very thoughtful of you... and I promise not to break into it and spend the 5p! :-) lol

It's been a while since my girls appeared on my blog... so here is Tess, followed by Meg checking out my new fob...





Here's a little finish - Amour by JBW Designs, which I'll probably make into a little cushion for my smalls basket.



We're looking forward to seeing some visitors from Northern Ireland this week. I don't think they'll be too impressed with the weather which has turned to custard. I think I'll send it back your way Kathryn :-)

Have a great week everyone!

Winter Solstice

Today may be mid-Winter, but what a glorious warm day it was. It is supposed to deteriorate tomorrow, but that's OK I'm well stocked with chocolate buttons and some more new stash to keep me busy.

Last weekend my little sister came to stay. We decided to do a bit of shopping and ended up at an LNS (as you do!). I bought JBWs 'Lark' and some new needles, then we went to Spotlight where I picked up a kit 'There's no such thing as too much chocolate' for half price. OH then took the pair of us out for dinner and a movie (Indiana Jones). I also received Home of a Needleworker in the post from Meg at Country Frames & Quilts a new local online shop.



Here is a belated photo of my finished Summer Cottage Garden.



I've been working on Carol's Quaker Friendship RR, although I have put it aside until my 6" by 6" q-snaps arrive. In the meantime I'm working on JBW's 'Amore' and have pulled out an old WIP from 2005 - The Drawn Thread's 'Lily of the Valley'. About time I finished it, I think I actually started it in 2004!

Hope you are having a great weekend!

12 things about me

I found this on a non-stitchy blog, and thought I'd give it a go. I love how it turned out!



If you want to do it too -
1. type your answer to each of the questions below into flickr search.
2. using only the first page of results, pick one image.
3. copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into big huge lab’s mosaic maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.

the questions:
1. what is your first name?
2. what is your favorite food? right now?
3. what high school did you go to?
4. what is your favorite color?
5. who is your celebrity crush?
6. what is your favorite drink?
7. what is your dream vacation?
8. what is your favorite dessert?
9. what do you want to be when you grow up?
10. what do you love most in life?
11. what is one word that describes you?
12. what is your flickr name?

Some progress and some stash

Thanks for your comments on whether or not to stitch some initials on the Quaker House Sampler.

I've been busy working on Summer Cottage Garden by CCN, and I'm not too far from finishing . I might even get it finished up tonight while OH is out watching the New Zealand All Blacks vs Ireland rugby match at the Cake Tin.

I can't tell you how glad I am NOT to be going. It's cold and wet, and it's going to get worse. So I'm going to start watching my Charles Dickens Bleak House DVD set, do some stitching and eat chocolate buttons!



I was hoping my stash from Down Sunshine Lane might arrive in time for the weekend, but thought the chance was slim since I only ordered it last week. But I was pleasantly surprised to see a parcel sitting in the letterbox when I arrived home from work last night. I've used DSL twice now, and have been very impressed with the service. Here's my loot -





Hope you are having a great weekend!

WIP Bustin'

Quaker House Sampler by Carriage House Samplings
Originally uploaded by rosie_kiwi

I started the Quaker House Sampler by Carriage House Samplings back in January. I didn't get too far before I put it aside to concentrate on commitment stitching and other projects, but I pulled it out on Friday night and finished it over the long weekend. It was a really enjoyable piece to stitch. There is something very visually pleasing about Quaker medallions.

I wasn't sure about all the random initials. They didn't seem to add much, and don't mean anything to me - so I chose to leave them out. What do you think? Leave them out or stitch them in?

I went to see the musical CATS last night. Wow, what a fantastic show! The other three people I coaxed into going (OH being one of them) enjoyed it too, phew!

Cindy's RR finished

I finished Cindy's RR, it's going in the post tomorrow.





Kathy wanted to know what kind of winter weather we get in Wellington. I would say we are quite lucky with the weather, a bit of snow on the hills is about as extreme as it gets around here. We can get some very cold mornings, like this day back in July which turn into glorious sunshine. Some parts of New Zealand don't fair so well though with extremely cold winters (and extremely hot summers).

I'll do a stash report when it arrives in. It took me ages (a couple of lunch breaks and several hours at home...lol) to decide what to get. I still haven't worked out if I don't like parting with money, or whether I am just bamboozled by all the beautiful designs out there. I mostly went for smaller designs - some JBW, Heart in Hand, Lizzie Kate, Just Nan and La D Da from memory.

Finally, before I go I'd just like to thank everyone for stopping by and for leaving comments. It's always appreciated :-)

Nearly there with Cindy's RR

If I didn't spend so much time on the internet, I'm sure I could have had it finished long before now! :-)



Thought I'd share a photo of Wellington. We're still having pretty good weather, even though it's nearly winter. I'm lucky in that the waterfront is very close to where I work. Great on a good day!



Oh well, I think I'm going to have a little online stashy spend. Hope you're having a great week - only four more days until Friday (and a long weekend - yay!).

Hello Neighbour RR progress

Here's my progress on Cindy's piece for the Hello Neighbour RR.

I'm stitching the strawberry house from Plum Street Samplers 'Fruit of the Spirit' design. No frogs and no frustration, so far :-)



Yay, it's Friday!!!

Flip!

You wouldn't believe how many times I frogged on this small piece or how long it took. So it's little wonder that even the photo won't play ball!

You can click for a clearer view



Ho-hum!

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my last post about my small finish and driving test. They were very much appreciated.

It's getting late, so I'll leave you with a photo of my newest little friend...

Dance of the Bumblebee

I so love how this turned out. I stitched it with the recommended threads (a mixture of WDW and GAST) on 28 count Apple Blossom Lugana from Countrystitch. I am not sure how I will finish it yet.



I passed my driving test on Tuesday. Yay! I'm fully licensed now. The lady testing officer said she wished they were all like me - I got 100% in Parts 1 and 2, and there were just two small things in Part 3.

Last Sunday we went to the
Karori Wildlife Sanctuary. I highly recommend it to my local (or holidaying in NZ) readers - it's not a zoo and I didn't expect to see anything more than on any other bush walk (of which there are many in NZ). Boy was I mistaken - we saw tuatara, skinks, geckos, loads of beautiful native birds and wetas.

Wetas strike fear into many people, not because they can harm you but because they're not very pretty (I remember my older sister going into some bushes to retrieve a ball when we were kids and coming out screaming blue murder because there was one on her back LOL).

I never knew there were cave wetas. So OH, BIL and I donned some hard hats and ventured into the darkness - I was actually glad that we didn't manage to locate any - I think I would have freaked!!! You can see a photo here if you are brave.... I made OH do a hoodie check when we came out, I wouldn't have wanted to have realised later I had one of those hiding in my sweatshirt!

OH and I are going to become members and go far more regularly, and of course support a fantastic cause.

Hang in there folks, tomorrow is Friday. YAY!